A letter
Dear, Game Masters, players, on-lookers, and those otherwise invested, There are a few things I would like to address in regards to The Ninth Realm, a world we have all contributed to in our own ways, and have devoted so much love and attention to! To start out: 1: I love that new people are playing in this world we have created. Teagan and I have added new people, Adam has a new set of victims, Eli has trapped a few more, and this is lovely. They are all off doing their things and getting into trouble and changing our world one bit at a time. 2: This world is meant to be collaborative, and not at all exclusive. I like that people can have their own places and people and do what they will with their locations. 3: I like that our world is gaining history, pieces are being filled in and stories are being made that will become legend in the not so distant future. However: 1: I would like, for the sake of campaigns, that everyone be allowed to travel to, interact with, and influence other people's continents as they would their own. However, with trust, comes, well, trust. Characters have to be respected for being the characters that they are, regardless of who made them. This means that when using another person's character in a campaign they are not in, it might be best to ask if you can, and if they are in the campaign, respect that they have power over the actions of that character. In either case make sure that you are staying true to the character’s personality, morals, and all of that jazz. It is important not to kill other people's characters without permission, as you have no way of knowing the person's plans for that character later on. If all else fails, I would rather people be a bit spoiled about the campaign than for them to feel as though their character was not done justice. The same goes for locations, histories, god figures, magic systems, artifacts, and any other creation. They should stay true to form, and if you are not sure what that means, ask the one who created that thing. If your players destroy a mountain in another person's continent, be sure to tell them, and if at all possible, predict this event and ask permission first. Consent is key, because even if one person is not particularly attached to their locations or characters, another person may be very invested in them, and to have them compromised would be betraying the trust that they put in you. Be ready to be rejected. If you ask someone if you can use their character in your campaign and they say no, do not be offended. It probably means that they are very attached to that character, or maybe they have plans for them elsewhere. Make a new character to fill the gap where you wanted theirs, or do a bit of reworking, either way, respect their decisions. 2: On that note, it is important to stay true to the world at hand. A planet is only so large, and things that affect the entire world affect everyone and every place in that world. If one person makes a rule or decision that influences gameplay everywhere, it should be first checked in with everyone who has a stake in the world-state, and be prepared to be rejected, or have some new rules be limited to campaigns where you are DM’ing. Not everyone may accept that everyone in the world has been killed off and replaced with zombie versions of themselves. Everyone has a different style of playing. If in some of those a spell is banned, it may not be in others. It is important to respect the setting as being cooperative, because otherwise people may feel as though their authority is being undermined. 3: I appreciate that everyone has their own places they would like to make in the world, but it may be best that, if not now, than soon, we begin to cap the creation of new continents, and limit new land creation to towns, cities, and otherwise smaller sections of the world. There comes a time when every world-setting hits max capacity, and with the amount of places we have now, I think we are about reaching that. I encourage people to build and find settings in other Realms, and in their own worlds :). There is a lot of open sea however, and while some underwater places are taken, people are welcome to have some underwater, or in the sky locations. If someone is going to add something to another person's continent, be sure to check in with them. If you say “ Can I add a city here?” they will most likely say yes! They may also already have a city in that spot, or have plans to blow it up, so just check in, and keep them updated if anything major happens while they weren’t looking. 4: Above all, this world is not exclusive. And with that comes a duty to be true and fair to one another. If that means limiting campaigns to a not having effects that change the entire world, then it so be it. I do not want it to come down to limiting DM’s power of will, because I myself would not want it to be limited, but we need to be respectful to the other people who are creating and gaming with this world as a setting. And that is just what it is, a setting. If all else fails, we cap the history of the world and say “ Here is the setting, play in it as you will, but this will no longer affect other people’s versions of this world.” if that comes, it comes. Otherwise, we need to make sure to keep this a friendly and cooperative setting where people can make history, and make legends. Thank you for reading, - A loving but concerned note from the initiator and collaborator of the Ninth Realm Questions? Comments? Concerns? Feel free to leave them below, or contact the author, Mikey Baum, via Text. * * Category:Notices